Nanotechnology involves manipulating matter at the nanoscale of 1 to 100 nanometers to develop new materials and devices. It has many applications in energy and medicine. In energy, it can increase solar cell efficiency, improve insulation, and help clean up nuclear accidents. In medicine, it allows more targeted drug delivery, improved diagnostics using sensors, focused radiation therapy for cancer, and antimicrobial applications. Overall, nanotechnology promises revolutionary advances in developing new energy solutions and medical treatments.

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2. NANOTECHNOLOGY IN ENERGY AND MEDICAL
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1. INTRODUCTION
 What is Nanotechnology? | Nano
Nanotechnology is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale, which is
about 1 to 100 nanometers.
Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the study and application of extremely small things
and can be used across all the other science fields, such as chemistry, biology, physics, materials
science, and engineering.
 How it is started?
The ideas and concepts behind nanoscience and nanotechnology started with a talk entitled
“Three’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” by physicist Richard Feynman at an
American Physical Society meeting at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) on
December 29, 1959, long before the term nanotechnology was used. In his talk, Feynman
described a process in which scientists would be able to manipulate and control individual
atoms and molecules. Over a decade later, in his explorations of ultraprecision machining,
Professor Norio Taniguchi coined the term nanotechnology. It wasn't until 1981, with the
development of the scanning tunneling microscope that could "see" individual atoms, that
modern nanotechnology began.
 Why nanotechnology matters
The world’s hunger for energy is rapidly increasing while we at the same time face critical
environmental issues as well as dwindling resources. To manage this situation we need to
produce, transport, store and consume energy in new and more efficient ways.

3. Nanotechnology promises to be the tool we need. Designing and developing new material
properties on the nanoscale enables new applications and solutions. We are in fact already seeing
products such as energy-efficient LED lights, new nanomaterials for thermal insulation, low fric-
tion nanolubricants and lightweight nanocomposites on the market. This is just the beginning.
Many exciting opportunities with huge market potential will emerge in the decades to come.
Nanotechnologies will affect the entire field of energy from usage to supply, conversion and
storage. Today the main focus is very much on improving energy efficiency.
With this brochure, Nano Connect Scandinavia, an EU-financed project representing seven
universities and institutes in south-western Scandinavia, presents a few promising areas within
the energy field where nanotechnology will have a major impact.
2. NANOTECHNOLOGY FOR ENERGY APPLICATIONS
An important subfield of nanotechnology related to energy is nanofabrication. Nanofabrication is
the process of designing and creating devices on the nanoscale. Creating devices smaller than
100 nanometers opens many doors for the development of new ways to capture, store, and
transfer energy. The inherent level of control that nanofabrication could give scientists and
engineers would be critical in providing the capability of solving many of the problems that the
world is facing today related to the current generation of energy technologies.
Few of the main application of nanotechnology are Reduction of energy consumption,
Increasing the efficiency of energy production, Nuclear Accident Cleanup and Waste Storage.
I. Reduction of energy consumption
A reduction of energy consumption can be reached by better insulation systems, by the
use of more efficient lighting or combustion systems, and by use of lighter and stronger
materials in the transportation sector. Currently used light bulbs only convert
approximately 5% of the electrical energy into light. Nanotechnological approaches like
or quantum caged atoms (QCAs) could lead to a strong reduction of energy consumption
for illumination.

4. II. Increasing the efficiency of energy production
Today's best solar cells have layers of several different semiconductors stacked together
to absorb light at different energies but they still only manage to use 40 percent of the
Sun's energy. Commercially available solar cells have much lower efficiencies (15-20%).
Nanotechnology could help increase the efficiency of light conversion by using
nanostructures with a continuum of bandgaps.
III. Nuclear Accident Cleanup and Waste Storage
Nanomaterials deployed by swarm robotics may be helpful for decontaminating a site of
a nuclear accident which poses hazards to humans because of high levels of radiation and
radioactive particles. Hot nuclear compounds such as corium or melting fuel rods may be
contained in "bubbles" made from nanomaterials that are designed to isolate the harmful
effects of nuclear activity occurring inside of them from the outside environment that
organisms inhabit
Energy efficiency
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that energy savings corresponding to almost
one fifth of the current worldwide energy consumption can be achieved by improved energy
efficiency. Nanotechnology enables large energy and cost savings, especially in the building,
transportation and manufacturing industries.
Smart Windows Reconcile EnergyEfficiencyAnd Aesthetics
Windows create a connection to the outside world and add natural light to a building, but they
also critically affect the building’s energy balance. Nanotechnology-based smart windows
change their colour at the flick of a switch – a small applied voltage changes the appearance of
electrochromic glass from transparent to translucent (and vice versa) as lithium ions and
associated electrons migrate from the counter electrode to an electrochromic electrode layer. Due

5. to efficient heat and light management, the need for cooling and lighting can thereby be
optimally balanced, and motorised shades can be partially eliminated.
Light Weight Constructions BoostFuelEfficiency
Nanostructured metal or polymer matrix composites define new standards in lightweight design;
they offer higher strength-to-weight ratio, higher resistance against fatigue and better formability
than conventional composite materials owing to the large interfacial area between matrix and
reinforcement structure. They also display interesting optical, electrical, thermal and magnetic
properties. Lighter and smaller heat exchange systems can be constructed by using nanofluids, a
new class of heat transfer fluids, where the addition of a very small quantity (<1 % by volume)
of nanoparticles to a traditional heat transfer fluid dramatically improves its thermal properties
while not significantly affecting the flow properties.

6. The Volkswagen 1-litre concept car
travels 100 km on one litre of diesel
fuel. This extraordinarily high fuel
efficiency is possible thanks to
lightweight materials, carefully
designed aerodynamics and an engine
control system tuned for economy.
Aerogels Re-Define Thermal Insulation
Aerogels are solid nanoporous substances with exceptionally low density (as low as 3 kg/m3)
and remarkable thermal insulation properties (thermal conductivities down to 0.004 Wm-1K-1,
i.e. about 8–10 times lower than mineral wool). They are mechanically stable, translucent, non-
toxic, and non-flammable. While traditionally expensive, Svenska Aerogel AB has developed a
new production method that enables the material to be produced in a cost-effective way. Flexible
aerogel blankets are available from Aspen Aerogels.
Excellent thermal insulation can
be achieved with aerogels as
illustrated by a flower not being
burnt by a Bunsen burner.

7. 3. Medical Applications of Nanotechnology
Breakthroughs in nanotechnology promise to revolutionize drug manufacturing, drug delivery,
and medical diagnostics. By learning how substances behave differently at the individual cellular
or particle level, researchers are beginning to unlock the vast medical potential of nano-scale
materials.
The use of nanotechnology in medicine offers some exciting possibilities. Some techniques are
only imagined, while others are at various stages of testing, or actually being used today.
Nanotechnology in medicine involves applications of nanoparticles currently under development,
as well as longer range research that involves the use of manufactured nano-robots to make
repairs at the cellular level (sometimes referred to as nanomedicine).
Whatever you call it, the use of nanotechnology in the field of medicine could revolutionize the
way we detect and treat damage to the human body and disease in the future, and many
techniques only imagined a few years ago are making remarkable progress towards becoming
realities.
Nanotechnology in Medicine Application: Drug Delivery
One application of nanotechnology in medicine currently being developed involves employing
nanoparticles to deliver drugs, heat, light or other substances to specific types of cells (such as
cancer cells). Particles are engineered so that they are attracted to diseased cells, which
allows direct treatment of those cells. This technique reduces damage to healthy cells in the body
and allows for earlier detection of disease.
For example, nanoparticles that deliver chemotherapy drugs directly to cancer cells are under
development. Tests are in progress for targeted delivery of chemotherapy drugs and their final
approval for their use with cancer patients is pending.
Nanotechnology in Medicine Application: Therapy Techniques
Researchers have developed "nanosponges" that absorb toxins and remove them from the
bloodstream. The nanosponges are polymer nanoparticles coated with a red blood cell
membrane. The red blood cell membrane allows the nanosponges to travel freely in the
bloodstream and attract the toxins.

8. Researchers have demonstrated a method to generate sound waves that are powerful, but also
tightly focused, that may eventually be used for noninvasive surgery. They use a lens coated with
carbon nanotubes to convert light from a laser to focused sound waves. The intent is to develop a
method that could blast tumors or other diseased areas without damaging healthy tissue.
Researchers are investigating the use of bismuth nanoparticles to concentrate radiation used in
radiation therapy to treat cancer tumors. Initial results indicate that the bismuth nanoparticles
would increase the radiation dose to the tumor by 90 percent.
Nanoparticles composed of polyethylene glycol-hydrophilic carbon clusters (PEG-HCC) have
been shown to absorb free radicals at a much higher rate than the proteins out body uses for this
function. This ability to absorb free radicals may reduce the harm that is caused by the release of
free radicals after a brain injury.
Targeted heat therapy is being developed to destroy breast cancer tumors. In this method
antibodies that are strongly attracted to proteins produced in one type of breast cancer cell are
attached to nanotubes, causing the nanotubes to accumulate at the tumor. Infrared light from a
laser is absorbed by the nanotubes and produces heat that incinerates the tumor.
Nanotechnology in Medicine Application: Diagnostic Techniques
Reseachers at MIT have developed a sensor using carbon nanotubes embedded in a gel; that can
be injected under the skin to monitor the level of nitric oxide in the bloodstream. The level of
nitric oxide is important because it indicates inflamation, allowing easy monitoring of
imflammatory diseases. In tests with laboratory mice the sensor remained functional for over a
year.
Researchers at the University of Michigan are developing a sensor that can detect a very low
level of cancer cells, as low as 3 to 5 cancer cells in a one milliliter in a blood sample. They grow
sheets of graphene oxide, on which they attach molecules containing an antibody that attaches to
the cancer cells. They then tag the cancer cells with fluorescent molecules to make the cancer
cells stand out in a microscope.
Researchers have demonstrated a way to use nanoparticles for early diagnosis of infectious
disease. The nanoparticles attach to molecules in the blood stream indicating the start of an
infection. When the sample is scanned for Raman scattering the nanoparticles enhance the
Raman signal, allowing detection of the molecules indicating an infectious disease at a very early
stage.
A test for early detection of kidney damage is being developed. The method uses gold
nanorodsfunctionalized to attach to the type of protein generated by damaged kidneys. When
protein accumulates on the nanorod the color of the nanorod shifts. The test is designed to be
done quickly and inexpensively for early detection of a problem.
Read more about nanomedicine diagnostic techniques

9. Nanotechnology in Medicine Application: Anti-Microbial Techniques
One of the earliest nanomedicine applications was the use of nanocrystalline silver which is as
an antimicrobial agent for the treatment of wounds, as discussed on the Nucryst Pharmaceuticals
Corporation website.
A nanoparticle cream has been shown to fight staph infections. The nanoparticles contain nitric
oxide gas, which is known to kill bacteria. Studies on mice have shown that using the
nanoparticle cream to release nitric oxide gas at the site of staph abscesses significantly reduced
the infection.
Burn dressing that is coated with nanocapsules containing antibotics. If a infection starts the
harmful bacteria in the wound causes the nanocapsules to break open, releasing the antibotics.
This allows much quicker treatment of an infection and reduces the number of times a dressing
has to be changed.
A welcome idea in the early study stages is the elimination of bacterial infections in a patient
within minutes, instead of delivering treatment with antibiotics over a period of weeks. You can
read about design analysis for the antimicrobial nanorobot used in such treatments in the
following article: Microbivores: Artifical Mechanical Phagocytes using Digest and Discharge
Protocol.
Nanotechnology in Medicine Application: Cell Repair
Nanorobots could actually be programmed to repair specific diseased cells, functioning in a
similar way to antibodies in our natural healing processes. Read about design analysis for one
such cell repair nanorobot in this article: The Ideal Gene Delivery Vector: Chromallocytes, Cell
Repair Nanorobots for Chromosome Repair Therapy